The following discussion of the background of the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge of the person skilled in the art in any jurisdiction as at the date of the application.
A pre-paid mobile phone subscriber can often have a zero balance with their telecommunications carrier or insufficient pre-paid credits to carry out a transaction, place a voice call or send an SMS message or text. In the case if zero balance, this prevents the subscriber from initiating or continuing communication—particularly in situations where communication is being facilitated by SMS or similar messaging arrangement. Depending on the telecommunications carrier, this may also prevent the subscriber from receiving communications.
This situation can be frustrating for people seeking to communicate with the subscriber. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system whereby a party can communicate with a subscriber who may wish to avail of a free reply to a message or who may not having sufficient credit with their telecommunications carrier to initiate or continue communication.